A Lightening Arrest / Reinaldo Escobar

Video showing the arrest of Yoani Sanchez (seen early in the video in a black top and red skirt, confronting those arresting her) and the beating and arrest of Angel Santiesteban

In the last 48 hours a wave of arrests has been unleashed that at this point can’t be explained in any reasonable way. The first difficulty in understanding what happened is that it is very difficult to think like the repressive forces. They have their own “logic” and it is often confusing.

Shortly after learning that among the people arrested was my wife, the blogger Yoani Sanchez, I went to the police station on Acosta street with the blogger Agustin Lopez (his blog is Dekaisone). Minutes after asking uniformed men about Yoani’s presence in this place, others came, dressed in plainclothes and also uniformed, and told us we were being arrested.

The frisking process was brief, they handcuffed us and put us in the car. The squad car pulled out and turned the corner. We had barely gone 60 yards when a man in civilian clothes stopped the car and ordered them to let us go. Probably Agustin and I have starred in one of the shortest detentions of recent times.

The night went slowly, full of news of other arrests and releases. At this point, still behind bars are Yaremis Flores, Antonio Rodiles, and an undetermined group of civil society activists.

Urban Slums Report: The Case of Havana, by Mario Coyula – 2003

Click on image to open report. The report contains an excellent guide to housing in Havana and its terminology, for example use of the term "barbecue" for a makeshift platform built to gain floorspace.

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